LETTER | I would like to share my thoughts and concerns about the high-handed council officers that serve in the local council in Subang Jaya.
In the last six months, the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) has on four separate occasions, removed, dismantled and destroyed fence poles, road humps, security barriers, and a guardhouse in my area.
This, they did, without giving my community and I, president of the USJ 4 Casablanca Residents’ Association (RA), any opportunity to meet with them, and find a solution to both of our woes.
Our residential area is one of the few that has been spotlighted in the media for desperately wanting to fence up the area.
What is odd is that the local council seemingly does not want to allow us to do so - but doesn’t act with such severity with other RAs.
Let me explain further.
Just some 50m or so from my house in USJ 4 is the site of the famous 'USJ 4 Ramadan bazaar' which yearly hosts some 180 stalls and possibly thousands of public members daily during the fasting month.
In recent years, the throng of customers and food traders who join the crowd has increased tenfold.
After all, ours is one of the few places in urban Subang Jaya that sees such a mass of people congregate for a bazaar; bazaars on a smaller scale can be seen in USJ 1 and USJ 7.
Sadly, the concerns that we surrounding residents have raised on multiple instances have also increased in light of this.
It is difficult for one to turn a blind eye towards the damage caused by these bazaar-goers.
Cars have been dented, car mirrors have been shattered and rubbish has been thrown indiscriminately all throughout our area - and cases like these increase only during the Ramadan period.
Not only that, but the traffic condition that envelops the adjacent Persiaran Tujuan in the afternoons due to the high volume of visitors is just as unbearable, as well as the traffic congestion within our area.
Adding to our displeasure is the fact that our inner roads have been worn out by this heavy traffic and efforts to have them resurfaced have failed.
But we have still tolerated and tried to be accommodating. After all, we are a multiracial community.
However, it became inevitable for our community to fence ourselves up anyway, to not only prevent such an influx into our neighbourhood, but to also protect and maintain our community and area at all times.
In recent years, neighbouring residential areas in Subang Jaya have successfully and collectively fenced up their areas and implemented guard schemes in an effort to combat crime.
Guard schemes allow for guards to be stationed at checkpoints in the gazetted areas during specified times of the day.
Surrounding communities on other sides of the bazaar have had their areas fenced up for years. They have guards too. Many residents encouraged me to follow in their footsteps.
I figured, why couldn’t we do the same then?
In 2016, I took up the role of the president of this residents’ association, and have strived to ensure its gate-fencing is realised, among many other goals.
Although I have repeatedly relayed to MPSJ that I have the required consent of 75 percent of my residents who agree to the guard scheme (it is now about 80 percent), and am still in the process of procuring a Temporary Occupancy License (TOL) from the district land office, all of our efforts in protecting ourselves have gone to waste.
I find it ridiculous and contradicting of MPSJ for first and foremost failing to adhere to guidelines set in law.
For example, in the guidelines of the Local Housing and Real Estate Institution (Lembaga Perumahan dan Hartanah Selangor, or LPHS), of which all RAs like mine have to be abide to, it states:
(7.4) “Tindakan penguatkuasaan perobohan akan hanya dimulakan oleh Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT) / Pejabat Tanah Daerah (PTD) selepas enam (6) bulan daripada Notis Amaran/Peringatan yang ketiga dikeluarkan dan perlaksanaan ini bermula 1 September 2016.”
The first notice we received was on March 22 last year to stop fencing work and we did that. However, two days before Ramadan last year, on May 25, they removed the fence poles and confiscated our security items.
On Nov 21 and 22, without any warning whatsoever, MPSJ removed our road humps which were meant to slow down vehicles so the guards could vet passers-by as found in the LPHS 6.3.
On Dec 21, we received a letter from MPSJ asking us to remove the barriers and guardhouses ourselves, but on Dec 28, they forcibly removed it by themselves.
The guidelines from LPHS were never adhered to.
Last year, the MPSJ deputy president brought up some startling points when he visited the bazaar and spoke to the media.
He reportedly said that no guards in the entire Subang Jaya area were allowed to use barriers or vet visitors that wanted to come through. He said that guards are only allowed to vet visitors in the area from 12am to 6am.
This is in complete contradiction, however, with what is stated in our letter for the guard scheme, and the guidelines to the LPHS, which allows barriers and boom gates to be used in my community, so long as there are guards there.
A letter by MPSJ to my RA (Reference no. MPSJ.JPB.BP1.600-1/11/9(17) dated May 19, 2017 clearly states:
(i) Halangan jalanan awam hanya dibenarkan dari jam 12 malam hingga 6 pagi.
(ii) Halangan jalan umum menggunakan ‘boom gate’ di Jalan USJ 4/6A, Jalan USJ 4/6B and USJ 4/7 perlu dikawal oleh pengawal keselamatan yang bertugas 24 jam berturut-turut dan membuka halangan apabila perlukan pada bila-bila masa. Kenderaan awam tidak boleh dicegah daripada masuk/keluar kawasan kediaman pada bila-bila masa.
In fact, LPHS guidelines 4.6 clearly state that consideration can be given (in terms of allowing barriers or boom gates to operate) if there are guards. It further states that guards can open these gates at any given time.
Secondly, my concern with this is that with many other RAs, it seems MPSJ has turned a blind eye.
MPSJ councillor Pooi Weng Keong has previously stated that problems faced by our community are 'short-term' and because when residents are objecting, gating a community 'can't work'.
“This is the law,” he had said.
But surely it is the law to follow through with all of these guidelines, Mr Pooi? Boom gates are supposed to go up and down and only then guards can vet the passers-by without them trashing our cones.
How else can we effectively monitor who is coming into our areas?
As with every other residential area, however, we too also face a handful of disgruntled people i.e. residents and shoppers who oppose the guard scheme.
We had a 'Dialogue on Guard Scheme Implementation' with the residents and authorities and with the MP and assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh on April 22 last year where clearly it was seen there was only one resident objected to the fencing.
Others complain of inconvenience as they have to wait for the guards to vet them and many who are used to going through our area only to access the shops complained about their having to change their route (it's about the same distance).
However, it is just a matter of time before they get used to it. But if MPSJ keeps supporting them, they will never come out of their comfort zone and make that change to make our area safer.
We have to strike a balance between convenience and security.
For residents we have issued car stickers to most of them so that problem should cease. And we are more than happy to assist the other residents who require the car stickers.
So why is my association being sidelined and treated like this, when many RAs are allowed to have maximum security? If it is just because of a few disgruntled residents, then democracy is not being practiced here.
The federal government has also allocated RM10,000 to each RA and 'chain link fence' is one of the security measures that can be taken by a residential area (which we have also obtained).
In conclusion, RAs come into being with due teamwork and support from residents. Each RA is a registered body with the registrar of societies. Most of us serve on a voluntary basis, and receive no remuneration whatsoever.
In spite of this, we spend our time keeping the neighbourhood clean and safe. We try to do the best, and hope that authorities like MPSJ will help do their part to assist us.
Sadly, this has not been the case for my community and I. It is not fair that we are being treated like this. We want answers. And we want them now.
What possible reason is there for MPSJ to treat us differently?
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
